ROAR FROM THE CORE (Golden Core Records)

• WAR MACHINE – ‘Unknown Soldier’
• RHABSTALLION – ‘Bat Shit Crazy’
• UNKNOWN – ‘Vanishing Point’

“Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue...” goes the wedding rhyme, which can be applied to the latest releases from Golden Core.

The ‘something old’ here is WAR MACHINE’s ‘Unknown Soldier’, originally released in 1986 and now appearing on CD for the first time. The brainchild of ex-Atomkraft guitarist Steve White, with Bern Mooney front and centre War Machine were one of only two Neat Records’ acts to feature a female vocalist. Having recorded a couple of demos at Impulse – the 1984 demo version of later album cut ‘Power’ on Neat’s third compilation cassette ‘Powertrax’ introduced the band – the quartet were offered a deal by the label. The resulting album is a powerful and heavy beast, with Bern’s vocals soaring above some serious riffs and the pounding rhythm section (a good drum sound was never Neat’s strong point) of bassist Lez Fry and seventeen-year-old drummer Brian Waugh. “Power without speed” was how Steve White described the band’s ethos and songs like ‘No Place To Hide’, ‘Sacred Hold’ and the aforementioned ‘Power’ ably demonstrate where the band were coming from. Regrettably, Brian Waugh quit the band and, although they soldiered on for a while, trying to find a replacement drummer to handle some of the quite complex material proved a struggle and they’d spilt by the end of the decade.

‘Something new’ sees those loveable Yorkshire rogues RHABSTALLION back in the saddle again for their second album ‘Bat Shit Crazy’. News of their reformation back in 2018 was music to the ears of NWOBHM aficionados, and, now slimmed down to a four-piece (guitarist Stuart Toddington retired last year), the band have come up with another corking album filled with hooks, melodies and a brace of hugely accessible, memorable toe-tapping cuts. They’ve kept true to their roots – as with its predecessor ‘Back In The Saddle’ most off the material could easily have followed up their 1981 ‘Day To Day’ 7” – but have expanded their horizons quite considerably in that the songs appear to have more depth. The marching ‘Strength Within Me’ is a imposing outing with some fluid guitar work and clever lyrics, while the faster crowd-pleasers like ‘Sold My Soul’ and opener ‘Bat Shit Crazy’ itself will no doubt go down a storm live. Top marks at this end though go to ‘Going Nowhere’, a song which in its execution seems to showcase everything the band is about. The album runs off with two live cuts from ‘Back In The Saddle’ – ‘Driving Seat’ and ‘Stand Up’ – which round off a classy release from a classy band.

photo by John Tucker, Brofest 2020

Something blue? Well, check out the sleeve of Connecticut quintet UNKNOWN – or The Unknown: the details are a bit contradictory on the sleeve – a five-piece metal outfit who came together in 2020. ‘Vanishing Point’ is their debut album, issued by the band themselves on CD last year but now available on vinyl through Golden Core. The band – vocalist Matt Fisher, guitarists Aamir Syed and Bob ‘The Maverick’ Beyer, bassist Andic Salcedo and drummer Jason ‘The Squirrel’ Northrop (although session drummer Jordan Rippe performs on the album) – have their own spin on traditional metal, throwing in the occasional thrash lick and cookie monster vocal to keep things fresh. Cuts like the frantic ‘Fury’ [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1bvNrrJ4E8 ] and the marvellous epic ‘The Prophet’s Hair’ demonstrate two facets of a band whose compositions prove that the musicians have a keen ear for a clever riff and a good melody. Atop the musicianship, the band display an aptitude for lyrical prowess by drawing on a wide range of sources from Shakespeare (‘The Bastard King’) to World War Two (‘Mission No.84’), and look like having a healthy future ahead of them.

Wrapping things up, it’s worth noting that the NON-FICTION album ‘It’s A Beautiful Lie’, released as part of the band’s ‘The Collection’ 2CD compilation by Golden Core earlier in the year, has now been given a standalone vinyl release by Golden Core. OK, I couldn’t work in the ‘something borrowed’ part of the rhyme to bring this full-circle, but, hey, three-out-of-four ain’t bad!

John Tucker July 2024